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2013.03.24 - You Will Kneel, Part 2
You will Kneel, Part 2 Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. - George Washington KRYPTON 56a MANY YEARS AGO A waterfall cascades through the middle of the opening and the light from above sparkles like crystals in mid-air. The clearing is half room, half tropical paradise, with large plants that hang over the clear white walls. Inside a party is going on for the political elite of the planet Krypton. The council is here, notably Jor, of the House of El. He's off to the side of the room, engaged in a conversation with a dark haired man named Dru-Zod, a general in the military. They lean against a railing, overlooking a courtyard below where more partiers mingle. Two women below, one with blonde hair, the other with jet black, converse down below. The former is clearly pregnant. "I haven't had time to congratulate you, Jor-El," Zod says as he smiles to the elder man, a drink of an orange color in his hand, the flute made from some form of crystal. "Have you thought upon a name?" Jor-El clearly looks worried. His eyes dart left to right, and once it is noticed, Zod's face falters. "I'm sorry. You and I both know that time is running out. I only wish the council would have listened to you when we had the chance for evacuation." Jor-El goes back to the first question Zod asked, "Lara likes the name Kal-El. What do you think?" He smiles faintly at his friend and motions his drink downwards towards the raven haired woman. "And Ursa? I knew you approached your feelings for her with great discomfort over the military protocols." _____ METROPOLIS TODAY The news reports were filled with it. General Zod, from the planet Krypton, has declared himself sovereign ruler over planet Earth. As his first decree, he demanded the 'criminal' Kal-El, son of Jor-El, to turn himself into to the new authority. At first no one seemed to take the threat seriously, that is until Zod's ship appears suddenly at the edge of the atmosphere, clearly visible from Manhattan Island. People's screams echo through the canyons between the buildings as it is immediately clear that Zod's threat is about to come true. Like bugs on blue, a host of specks seem to emanate from the ship almost like a swarm. They make their way towards the island quickly, out in front of the ship. If Zod wanted Superman, it didn't take him long to get him. A blue and red streak breaks the sound barrier, a cone of broken air blasting out behind him as he storms to intercept. Flying much faster, and with much more force than these KRYPTONIAN CLONES, Superman makes great headway into the grouping, knocking half a dozen out of the sky like mosquitoes. Once he gets about halfway into the group, however, he's grabbed by three clones who work in sync to chuck the Man of Steel downward at superspeeds. He crashes completely through a tower and halfway through the next one. War. War never changes. It doesn't matter if it's human against human or an alien invasion force, people get hurt, people die. No forced conquest has ever turned out good for anyone. The conquerors are hated and eventually cast down, thus it has ever been. Even a girl who is only about to graduate from High School knows that from simple text books! But some people never learned, never quit, and wanted to force their vision onto this world through pain and death. They were the reason Stargirl had become a hero. Maybe not the initial reason, but it was why she had decided to keep fighting. It was part of who she had decided she wanted to become. Even against a possible legion of Kryptonians. When Superman was considered one of, if not the, world's mightiest hero, just how did one defeat an entire army of Supermen? But perhaps a better question was: How does one NOT fight when everything they love is threatened? Courtney Whitmore had no secret past, no dark mystery, not even a brooding and angsty reason hidden her physiology on why she should take up the mantle and fight for others. But as her fingers close around the cosmic staff passed down to her by older, and only questionably wiser, heroes, that wasn't what was foremost in her mind. No, what was looming largest in Stargirl's mind was that the blonde-haired teenager was scared to DEATH. And she had to fight anyway. ...Against people who could throw Superman through buildings. The young woman, glowing with orange power streaks skyward from the streets even as the Man of Steel goes crashing down. She thinks first to catch him, but he's traveling too fast, in the wrong direction, and is too far away for her staff to create a construct. She continues moving skyward, eyes narrowed and the normally-smiling face intent and focused. She raises a fist as she comes close to clashing with a Kryptonian. But drops altitude at the last second and hooks her staff on the male's foot, nearly getting her arm ripped out of its socket in the process. But at least she manages to hang on to the staff as she literally tries to trip the extraterrestrial troublemaker in mid air so she can get off a follow-up blast from her palm via the converter belt. Not that she expected Kryptonian brains to be 'fried' by her electrically-distrubing blasts the way normal humans were. What WERE Kryptonian weaknesses again!? Declaring oneself a 'Sovereign Ruler over all the Earth' doesn't sit well with Orin, King of Atlantis. After all, he, himself, is ruler of over 70% of that earth so he'll be damned if some alien upstart thinks he's going to dethrone him. Oh, and the fact that Superman is kind of a friend doesn't really hurt this particular endeavor. While he hasn't been on land in quite some time, Orin makes this a definite exception. Let the UN deal with his actions later if they deem them inappropriate, but he's going to actually take this threat seriously. He can't fly, but he's able to make his way to an advantageous spot before levelling his Trident at the incoming clones. An energy blast then shoots forth from the forked tip, aiming to blast a swath through the things. A spaceship visible in the skies over The Island of Manhattan. An alien decreeing that he now rules, and that Superman be turned over to him. And a super powered fight where the 'gods among men' are fighting in the middle of the city. A normal person would run. Or hide. Or panic. Or all three. But Kate Bishop a.k.a. Hawkeye is not a 'normal person'. Some might even consider her crazy. At least if they knew what she was doing in her spare time. Heck, they'd probably consider what she's doing right now well beyond even that. Because as those clones take to the skies, and head for the ground below, the female archer is on a roof top, bow in hand as she reaches into her quiver for an arrow. One of the 'special' arrows she has never used, while she tries to line up a shot... Before firing off a high explosive arrow at what from a distance appears to be the head of one of the clones. Sometimes fighting is all that's left. When your back is to the wall and there's nothing but enemies as far as the eye can see.... some people fold, crack from the pressure. And then there are those who were forged in the fires of combat, who have been there before and were never found wanting in the past. Carol is one such figure. Under her breath, she mutters... "Declaring yourself in charge doesn't make it true asshole..." mostly under her breath as she streaks overhead as well, blowing past Stargirl... "Stick close!" she calls out as she passes her, slowing down to arc upwards and unleash a charged of blast from both hands that streaks in towards a group of the invading clones. Sure, Superman blew past her, but she is at home in the air, and a better fighter there than when on the ground. It's time to be a fighter pilot again... and a wingmate to Stargirl. It's a blonde! It's a second blonde! It's Wonder Girl flying up to try to punch the dude that Stargirl just tried to trip right in the FACE. Cassandra Sandsmark was actually just getting out of school and going to meet up with Courtney to 'hang out and stuff' when everything became chaos and people running around scared. Wonder Girl's first impulse was to change outfits and do something about all this. Well, more specifically it was to punch whomever was responsible. But a building has two holes in it, and a second building has one, and she fears for the safety of the people inside those buildings and on the street below. So Wonder Girl's first impulse wavers in the face of possible risk to civilians. But then she sees Stargirl up there already fighting, and she decides she has to help out the way that she knows best. She's going to hit things with her fist. Thus, her new plan of action is basically her old plan of action, and is what led her to fly up and try to punch the cloned Kryptonian in the face after Stargirl's mid-air trip maneuver. Of course, he's probably not only super tough but super fast, and Wonder Girl's hand to hand combat training does not leave her a master of mid-air martial arts, so who knows whether she's successful or not. At least her gauntlets will keep her hands from breaking. Maybe. One way or the other, she's in the battle now. She doesn't know the whos and the whys and the how-fors. There are bad guys, they are breaking stuff, and that's enough reason to try to break them in return. Man, there's no way she can be not recognized as an official hero once this is all done with! Pepper Potts is in her office in Stark Tower, making corrections to a spreadsheet while talk on her desk phone. A blur of blue flashes past the building and causes her to glance after it, but her attention turns back to the phone for a brief moment before JARVIS interrupts and cuts off the phone call. "Miss Potts, there is an altercation occurring approximately ten kilometers above and to the east of this tower. I must insist that you relocate to the secured communications facility on the fifty-first floor immediately." Pepper's momentary surprise turns into shock when another blue blue flashes past her office's windows, but this time slams through a nearby building and into another. Okay, good enough reason. She hastily scoops up her tablet, phone, and shoulder bag and runs for the elevator. "JARVIS, who's around to help, and are communications coordinated yet? I don't care who you have to hack, I want to know what's going on." "Beginning communication uplinks now, Miss Potts." Kryptonians, and Clones, and Wildebeests... oh my!!! He's going to get in soooooo much trouble for ruining his private school uniform. But this is the kind of excitement you don't get every day in Russia. As soon as things went pear shaped, the titanic terror and hopeful future Titan shows up on the scene. He's shed his youthful teenaged form though and is charging into the fight in his 12' demonic wildebeest form... with fashionable gold armored trunks. "Aww Yeah, A Fight!" Wildebeest bellows as he leaps up and grabs for one of the Clones. Elsewhere... The bursts of crimson and gold fire, billows of dusky smoke--yes, war does seem to have its commonalities, and those look all the more alike when viewed in the light refracted in the curve of a crystal. A minor step of reality away, just nearby and yet a universe distant, glowing eyes in a helmet of gleaming gold observe the unfolding of war, potentially a greater war than most any before it, begins to unfold in the heart of Metropolis, itself the heart of New York City--perhaps, in turn, something like the heart of the free world. And yet, none of these things move the being of the mirrored golden visage. The sorcerer in his tower has seen many governments rise and fall, and he would like as not stand by in the struggle for those one, too, for the Balance is not truly threatened, not in this moment. Yet again, the sorcerer was human more recently than he was Nabu the Wise, ascended and distant Lord of Order. The human he was normally leaves decisions to Nabu, yet in this he rebels, demands--and, moved by his host's convictions, Nabu relents. The sorcerer turns from his crystal globe. In Metropolis... "Invaders, begone! Your victory is not FATED this day." Anyone looking for a distraction, it would seem that it just arrived. In a giant flash of special effects. He is /thrilled/ to be here; the grin he wears as he fills the space beneath a group of descending clones with jets of superheated plasma is tight, but it's present--and rather wide, at that. And it only grows wider at Fate's auspicious appearance. "When this is over," he chirps over the *WHOOSH* of flame, "I'd like to /meet/ him." Bruce is around, though to help- well, he's kind of busy. His current experiment is extremely time-sensitive, and he really just can't pull himself away. Until- "Dr. Banner, there is an altercation occurring approximately ten kilometers above and to the east of this tower. I must insist that you relocate to the secured communications facility on the fifty-first floor immediately." There's a lengthy pause, and then Bruce leans away from the lens of the electron microscope, peering over the top of his glasses at the ceiling. "Seriously?" he asks, but then there's the sound of a distant explosion and another scientist on the other side of the lab pushes his chair away from his desk to look down at him. Bruce puts his hands up. It's not him. He stands and makes his way to the nearest floor-to-ceiling, and, okay, experiment has to wait. "JARVIS, I need to get to the roof." "Reed?!" Ben screams throughout the Baxter Building, "Check out the feed!" Ben cries out more and more for his adopted family but there's no response. Seeing the interrupted camera feeds Ben mutters, "You better be off in another dimension or out in the galaxy saving the universe," he mutters. Heading to the lab the teen snags two pouches designed for the wrist and a belt with a silver buckle along with a red circle in the center adorned with its own pouches. Rushing to his area of the lab he snags all of the web cartridges available. "Fifteen plus three in each shooter, ten to twelve are fair game. Make them count," Ben speaks low of his own game plan. Heading into his room he slips on the new black costume. Reed said the suit has all of the bells and whistles to hold up on its own in a nasty fight. Today would be the ultimate field test for the capability. Next the belt snaps into and grimacing at the wrist pouches Ben slips them on his ankles. All the cartridges go into their respective places, three in each ankle slot, four on one side of the belt and five on the other. Leaping and jumping up the staircase when Ben makes it to the top floor he slips up to roof. Swinging across the city Ben heads into the chaos. "This is suicide Reilly," the words are low and deep down he thinks, "This is what Peter should be doing." Looking to the black mass he's throwing himself in Ben spots his target. Dropping down he lands on the back on one of the kryptonians. Quickly the teen rolls off the flying alien then webs the clone in the face directly. Unlike the original spidey this isn't a stream of webbing that connects with the kryptonian, it's the entire cartridge's worth. Impact webbing is meant to cocoon burglars in a web-prison. Never before had it been directly applied to the face of wellanyone, so what it would do even Ben didn't know. How long it would last against a Kryptonian would be another matter. As Ben freefalls he flicks something at the waist of his costume. Red comes to light across his costume. His lenses are outlined in red, the symbol and accent marks all burn with the color. Now Ben is a bigger target but that's what he wants for round two as he swings off into buildings hoping to find a narrow opening. "Thwp," "Thwp," his arms are moving fast. Even the clone knows he just challenged a sea of flying powered things and they would be pushing themselves harder to get him. Gods, Aliens, Kings and Meta-humans.. All of Earths mightest assembled to stand against Zod and his army of Super-clones. What place does a common mutant have here? Dressed for a night on the town.. remnants of his late night out partying. Julian looks up, standing his ground while everyone around him is running for cover, But Hellion is another matter. "Let's wreak a little havoc." He mutters. His eyes glow green from within, his hair spikes back of it's own accord and that distinctive aura flares up, taking the young mutant off his feet and soaring into the braw, evading Super-clones as best he can. I needs something he can actually /affect/ when he hits it. KRYPTON 56a MANY YEARS AGO "It doesn't have to be this way, Jor-El. You know as I do the council is slow to act. It is unwieldy, weak, and possibly corrupt." "Zod, I've heard this talk before, but not off so little hilandar wine. You grow close to treason," the words don't seem to back Jor-El's emotion. His eyes give him away. The concern for his unborn son burrows deep into his thoughts. "Is it treason to plan to prevent the death of every man, woman, and child-born or unborn-simply because the council is lazy and myopic?!" Zod's words have bite to them, and though they are under hushed tones, it is clear he's losing his slim temper. "What say you, Jor-El? You know what our world is up against. Together, we could expedite the evacuation. We could save our people and our heritage, Jor-El!" The elder man sighs deeply, closes his eyes, and when he re-opens them, gazes upon his wife Lara for a long time. _____ METROPOLIS TODAY Courtney's attack is nothing if not original. While it does originally take the first Kryptonian Clone she comes upon by surprised, the fair haired alien lets out a bellowing laugh just before looking towards Courtney. His eyes glow red as he's about to send a mighty blast of heat vision her way. Just before he can, Wonder Girl's fist slams into his face, knocking his neck all out of whack and giving BlondeForce the upper hand. Orin's powerful blast of energy ripples and cracks through the sky, hitting a green haired, tanned skinned Kryptonian square in the chest. Though the shot would not do much to Superman, it seems to knock the clone off course. Peculiar. Kate's shot flies through the air, true to course, as her hours of honed skills come to fruition. An arrogant clone reaches out to catch the arrow in mid air, but is quite surprised when they get a face full of explosion! Carol's energy blast soars between two Kryptonian females with matching shaved heads. The burn through the air once they see their prey and seem intent on delivering Carol some major harm. One attacks her up high with heat vision, while the other attacks her lower half with ice breath. Just as Pepper finishes her sentence, a black outfitted, flying alien brings Superman up against the glass. Normal windows would have shattered, but Tony's high priced materials and Superman's energy against the attack, kept the window in one piece. Just as it looks as the clone is going to have his way with Superman, the Man of Steel fights back with a massive cross-face that lets out a large BANG that can be heard a mile around. The clone drifts backwards on the edge of consciousness. For the first time in this battle, one of the clones seems confused. While the larger brute evades Wildebeest's grab, he lands a short distance from the monster. Is that confusion or fear? He approaches, but does not readily understand his foe, nor does he know how to attack the Russian man-child. A half dozen Kryptonian Clones approach Fate, but are taken aback by the immense and penetrating light. What mayhem is this? Zod did not prepare his men for this sort of anarchy; this was not part of the intelligence reports. One of them even screams in terror. Xavin's shot burns away the flesh from the bones of the Kryptonian closest to him while two others suffer burns to their body and tears to their costumes. As the attack comes to an end, however, the skeleton peers in faceless shock, just as the skin begins to needle itself back together. Banner, once he gets near a window, will be able to see the wreckage below. By now there are clones both in the air and in the sky. It appears to many that while they were weaker at the beginning, they seem to be growing stronger and stronger at this particular Earth's yellow sun. Almost like solar power batteries charging up. Ben Reilly's web-splosion hits his particular clone in the face and covers it almost completely in a thick, dense covering. The clone wriggles and wraggles, unsure of what exactly has happened to him. There's a momentary pause, and then the webs melt away as the heat vision of the clone rips through it. The clone brings his hands up to the lower part of his face and rips the webbing off with a mighty tear. Julian shimmies and shakes his way upwards, so far avoiding attack. But as he continues to make his way upward, he gains the notice of two clones, who begin to float in his direction. They're slow. Wary. "Wouldn't that make it easier for them to fry us with laser-eye powers!?" Courtney yells over the rushing wind at Miss Marvel as she zips past. Hopefully they weren't EXACTLY like Superman in the range and breadth of their powers. Because unlike Carol, the air was NOT her natural place. In fact, all one of them had to do was snatch away her glowing golden stick to make her fall to her death. Cassandra's sudden arrival is given a thankful, though brief, smile. She'd like to show more appreciation for the assist, but there's a veritable army of goons she isn't even sure how to HURT to deal with! But Wonder Girl has that taken care of for now. Stargirl's staff glows with orange radiating energy, a large globe forming on the end as she swings the cosmic staff up and back like a giant mallet. Light as a feather to her, Courtney brings the giant ball of solid energy crashing down for the clone to send him earthward. "Cass, I... have an idea! Just trust me!" And then part of the glowing ball of energy opens up as she tries her best to scoop up Cassandra in it like a sling. And then she sends the other girl spinning around and around in an arc like a stone in a very old-fashioned weapon, hopefully not making her TOO nauseous. The energy is released and the makeshift human-sling vanishes as Courtney does her best to send her best friend hurtling with all that centrifugal force behind her right at one of the Kryptonian woman assaulting Carol with a gutteral 'huff' as she lets go. Lots of people. A lot of people have come in to help fight this invasion. At least, they -seem- to all be on the right side. Taking note of each arrival, Aquaman notes the effect of the energy blast on the Kryptonian. Huh. Well, if it works, he'll keep at it. No need to join the melee until it's absolutely necessary. It's not often that Aquaman gets to pick off foes from a distance. He's going to enjoy this advantage while he can. "Thanks Xavin." is said back over the connection before Kate reaches up and taps her own custom blue tooth. The button she presses in theory calls any and every member of The Young Allies she can right now. All though as she does that, she starts to run, and jump for another rooftop. After all, odds are that explosive didn't do much besides irritate the Kryptonian that she fired at. Thus it wouldn't be too big a thing to assume that she's now the target of said Kryptonian, thus she tries to /MOVE/ even as she fires off another 'special' (i.e. high explosive) arrow at it. "Any more Allies out here? This is Hawkeye! Sound off!" Of course as other heroes fight (and Fate causes the mother of all distractions) Kate at least knows she isn't alone. "If you stick close, I can work -with- you!" calls Carol after firing her blast. When she draws the attention of those two bald women, she narrows her eyes briefly. It's one of those... sizing up the other side things. Incoming fire! Heat vision is difficult to evade... since it is literally like point and click, but more like stare and shoot. The freezing breath... a lot less difficult. A twisting roll that looks like something a fighter plane might try (if it's pilot were high...) carries her out of the line of that while the heat beams strike her. Initially, the impact drives her back a few feet before her body begins to absorb the energy. "Oh ladies.." she remarks as she reorients and turns to charge into the twin clones. She feints towards one before twisting and striking at the other with a vicious left hook... while at the same time unleashing a charged up blast (empowered by the heat vision's energy to be even more powerful... even her muscles are stronger now.) As she engages the enemy more closely... as the saying goes, she calls out over her SHIELD Earbud. "Agent Danvers, Captain Marvel, checking in. Engaging invaders over New York." If Wonder Girl had the time to strike a pose, give a thumbs-up, and a great big grin with gleaming teeth, she... Probably still wouldn't do it. But the fact of the matter is she doesn't really have the time for that, and her hand kind of hurts from punching the one dude. All she can really do is fly backwards and out of the way as that giant hammer comes down. She didn't know Stargirl could do that! Then she hears her friend call out, and just goes, "H-huh? Oh, uh, okay! I mean... YES! I TRUST YOU!" Then she is snatched up by an energy construct and spun around and around and around, and then HURLED into the air. Like, even more into the air than she already was. Yeah, she feels a bit dizzy, but when she is flung at super-speed at someone who is clearly not on the side of Earth and is in the process of attacking Miss Marvel with frost breath (though successfully avoided), it doesn't take much reasoning to figure out what to do. "Close the door, you're letting all the cold air out!" she snaps as she tries to uppercut the Kryptonian woman in the jaw and maybe cause her to freeze the inside of her own mouth or something. She's not sure who these people are, and thus is unaware she's not in the same league of strength or toughness as they are, but she's still super-strong and she's still acting like a living projectile thanks to Stargirl, so maybe she's going to hit way super harder than usual! ...And then not be hitting QUITE as super-hard (though still super) when she follows up with a hook-punch aimed at the clone's collarbone with her other hand. Punching and flying. That's about it in terms of her repetoire. "You okay, ma'am?" Wonder Girl takes the time to ask as she glances in Captain Marvel's direction. She saw her get hit with energy beams. The fact they were absorbed was not quite picked up amidst the whole 'flying really fast' and 'punching really hard and hurting her hands more' part. She considers glancing over her shoulder to see how Stargirl is doing, but these enemies seem to be pretty strong. She should probably chase after the one she attacked -- assuming she did anything at all to her! Pepper Potts waits for the elevator impatiently, and is about to turn toward the stairs when Superman and someone else slam into a window just a few feet from her. She yelps in surprise, and it's only a long-standing habit that keeps her tablet from falling out of her hands. She watches the blue-clad hero fight off his attacker with wide eyes, then retreats into the elevator when the doors open. As the conveyance takes her toward the fifty-first floor, she hastily digs her bluetooth earpiece out of her bag and attaches it to one ear. "JARVIS, who's on the line already? Patch me through." "I have SHIELD frequencies already, Miss Potts, sorting through open communications lines for relevant signals and attempting to link to the signal from the Baxter. I have connected your bluetooth." Taking a breath to make sure she doesn't sound too shaken, Pepper listens to Carol's call then speaks on the hopefully growing party line that the tower's AI is building. "This is Stark Tower, Agent Danvers. Can you or anyone else give me an update on what's going on outside?" And, though she should have thought of this sooner, she pulls her phone and types instructions onto the screen advising building security to keep all employees inside and in the safe zones of the tower, trusting that JARVIS will see it and respond accordingly. If he hasn't already. Knowing the AI and Tony's tendency to think of things like this ahead of time, it was done at the same time as she was notified. Wildebeest lands from his attempted leap-grab in a crouch ala Iron Man, circular rings crackling in the street under him. Recovering and leaping to his feet, Wilde's entire focus is on his so-called 'dance partner'. Wilde cracks his knuckles and neck, as one two-toed foot scrapes at the ground. It's clear he plans to charge the brutish Krypton Clone like a bull. Until... well, an abandoned garbage truck catches his eye. A wicked little smile follows, as the slow gears upstairs start turning. People leave such convenient weapons when they flee for their lives. Wilde charges forward, hefting up the garbage truck along the way and attempting to slam it down, lovely Metropolis Consumer Waste and all... atop the K-Clone's head. "You just got trashed!" Ok, sue him... he hasn't taken advanced superhero quipping yet. "There is nothing here for you but an end. Turn back!" Tendrils of light begin to leap from the circle, piercing the sky, as Fate works up whatever grand spell he's conjuring. "Three dow--" is as far as Xavin gets before his exuberant report is cut short by a clipped cry of shock; he, too, is broadcasting to all available teammates, though for the moment, he isn't transmitting anything more than static and explosions. He stares into the faceless skeleton's eyeholes for a second before its knitting skin snaps him out of it. "They--they /heal/--" he transmits after swallowing. The flames whirling around his body begin to recede as he rears back and throws his right arm out in what seems to be a jab... until his arm stretches /past/ the clone, then whips back around to try and wrap tightly around its midsection. His left arm soon follows; the rubbery consistency of his body should - he hopes - protect him from the fall. Whether or not it'll protect him from the two clones who were merely singed, rather than incinerated, however, remains to be seen. "Aerial support--is not--going to be an option--after all!" he transmits through clenched teeth. JARVIS must be handling quite a few things at once as he directs Bruce up onto the roof, even commandeering an elevator just for him, but an AI with Tony's code is probably capable of it. The lift takes him straight up and Doctor Banner steps out in time to see one of the clones whizzing by the Tower. He can see several costumed heroes engaging the invaders off in the distance, but there are so many of them. Well, there goes another Goodwill outfit. He at least takes his glasses off and sets them aside, though he's not putting too much faith in them still being intact when he returns. He approaches the nearest ledge. The Hulk crashes into one clone in mid-air, sending them both careening towards the ground. Seeing that no one is chasing him Ben swings around. A Kryptonian with glowing red eyes and an angry look on his face tells the teen that this is the one he struck. Letting loose with a high pitch whistle Ben stares in the direction of the clone, "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp," "Thwp,"cuts through a moment of silent. Eight small web shots fire off into the sea of aliens. The plan is to do the equivalent of poking that angry looking animal with a pointy stick. Ben is trying to kick the hornets' nest. As Ben starts to swing off hopefully with his first target and hopefully five to seven more in tow heading in one direction until, "Any more Allies out here? This is Hawkeye! Sound off!" "Scarlet on site. What's your twenty!? Get ready something with a little kick to it!" Veering off toward Hawkeye, one he gets the answer, Ben hopes he can keep the plan going. Being a New York native for eighteen years, technically, he knows all of the little nooks and crannies. Moving toward Hawkeye Ben pulls into a tight spot between two buildings them fires off three more impact shots. Cocoons burst from the side of each building and the last shot strikes one of the cocoons bridging it with the other one. Now messy spider's web waited for anyone moving too fast to slow down, like a flying kryptonian unaware of a trap. While the web wouldn't be elegant it would be a thick mass of webbing hopefully able to trap a few Kryptonians. To avoid the mess himself two "thwps," echo in the space and Ben hurls himself toward the ground. Just before landing Ben rolls to take the fall then rises waiting to take any alien head on. Today the world would get to see a fight, a true test of strength to see who is stronger a spider-clone or a super-clone. It would be almost, keyword, as seeing Superman versus Spider-Man. Julian Keller ducks under a clone, zipping past it almost without notice. Only then does he realize he has a tail, both clones following him. Eyes narrow and he accelerates, green aura flaring brighter, zipping past the fight and high into the air. But seeing Zods ship so far out of his range, he lets out an exasperated sigh. Fine. If he can't fight, can't take out the ship directly.. then... what? But then he looks back, seeing his clones closing, he takes off again, heading for the ground. On the fly, he TK-grips and rips a flag pole off a building, and weilds it like a giant bat, beating clones with a massive American flag, backed by seven tons of steel and mental might. Not much against a ready Superman.. but an unwary super-clone? Maybe help even the odds. Courtney's attempt is spirited, but it is in this movement that tide of the battle has begun to turn from the heroes to the villains. A pair of clones descend upon the young blonde from above. One grabs the hand that holds the staff and begins to turn it in on itself in order to force her to drop the staff. The other reaches out for the blonde's neck. This one, a female with black curly hair, laughs maniacally as her white face contrasts sharply with her bright red lips. Unfortunately, Aquaman's advantage comes to an early end. What worked at the beginning is now no longer seeming to have the same effect. The blast explodes on the Kryptonian's chest, tearing away his protective suit. A split second later, the angry faced clone descends at Orin at impossible speeds, intending to ram the King of Atlantis! Kate's right. The Kryptonian she attacked is now after her, and worse, using X-ray vision in the pursuit. The clone tears away after her and bats away the arrow, this time with less arrogance. As Kate continues running, the clones large hands reach out for her raven colored hair, intent to drag her down by it. The blast that Carol sends is absorbed easily by the Kryptonian clone, who laughs. Meanwhile, the two females look at each other and smirk, feeling their bodies become more and more strong. One uses their super speed to catch up with her, wrapping their arms around her neck and beginning to squeeze down. The other flies upside down, smiles down at her, and begins to punch her mercilessly in the face, over and over again. Wonder Girl's punch is enough to knock the Kryptonian to the side a bit, but it doesn't seem to hurt as the foe seems to be growing in power. As Wonder Girl turns to chase her, the Kryptonian doesn't run but flies straight at her instead, delivering a powerful punch of her own! After the giant smack, her powerful hands come over Wonder Girl's hair as the young Amazonian begins to be dragged through the air by her coif reminiscent of a high school brawl. As Pepper makes her call to Carol, a weary voice is patched through via the Justice League frequency. "Miss Potts," *heavy breathing* "They're growing in strength. There's-so many of them. I'll continue fighting, but please. Do what you can to get Manhattan evacuated. I'm not sure-" Superman's voice cuts off as he's attacked by four clones. They drive his weary body into the pavement with a giant BOOOOOOM! The remaining two reach to his hair and begin to slam his face into the rock-rubble over and over again. Wildebeest brings the trash truck down upon the clone's head and refuse erupts from all sides and out onto the street. The youngling's momentary victory is halted however as he's tackled from the side by a new, yet unseen clone, who attempts to bury the Beest into the pavement! Before Fate is able to cast the badly needed spell and save the heroes who are beginning to falter all over. He is, it seems, their last hope-well, aside from that big green guy. But just as Fate is about to utter his incantation, he's hit high and low on opposite sides by two clones who send the magician reeling! Hulk, meanwhile, borrows his way downward towards the ground. The two beat each other across the face the entire 100 stories of the descent until a giant plume of smoke erupts and a giant smash can be heard for miles. Only one rises. He's mean. And he's green. Sensing the immediate danger, 4 kryptonian's attack Hulk with Superspeed from all sides, trying to carry him upwards, higher and higher, to the very height of the top of the atmosphere! Ben's plan starts off well initially. He catches a few clones and slows them down at least. But it's always the devil, the devil you don't see. Mid-travel towards Hawkeye, Ben's plucked out of the sky with ease by a new clone who seems happy to dine on Spider tonight. Just as he's being pulled closer to the clone, Ben can see Hawkeye herself about to be captured. Julian's surprise attack, thwaps a clone in the back, and he gets the other across the face before he gets swarmed. Kryptonian's pull at him, his green body being tugged in every direction. "You just want me to shoot you again, don't you?" Courtney yells out after she's released Cassandra in what is quite possibly the world's first Blonde-Sling action. The sudden release of the tension and contrifugal force causes her to fly back a few feet before she uses the cosmic staff to reassert her control over gravity and cease her backward slide. It's utter bedlam up here and they seemed to be getting lucky so far, but how long was that going to last? These people were trained soldiers and invaders. Courtney Whitmore was trained in kickboxing and had far less punching power. In fact, she only had her gear to rely on, not inborn talents gained through absorbing solar energy! It was times like this that she began to miss simple things like cheerleading. Screaming at the boys as they made or missed tackles was, as much as she initially denied it, much more exciting than this. Because then she wouldn't be worried about her and people she cared about getting killed by insane Super-clones. "I really hope this works." She mutters as she levels her staff, the most potent weapon in her arsenal. Of course, for it to 'work', it'd have to have just the RIGHT level of punch to it. That is, strong enough to hurt, but not strong enough to kill. And truth be told, she wasn't sure because... she'd never used the cosmic rod at it's full power before. Just as she's beginning to release that stored energy, a Kryptonian charges and grabs her weapon, twisting it to the side and forcing that powerful stream of energy to tear through a nearby skyscraper, bursting windows and cutting through concrete. Hopefully... no one was hurt during that. And yet she doesn't let go of the rod. Not even when a warm, steel hand clamps down on her throat. Great. She was going to be choked out for the SECOND time! Even as she hangs on to her weapon with one hand, the other comes around, sending a blast of energy into the clone's face that is choking her form her cosmic converter belt. And then she punches. And knees. And punches and kicks and elbows and- Something gives in her wrist with a *pop* as the staff keeps turning, but all she can let out is a garbled whisper of sound as her fingers are forced to let go and her face starts to turn blue, her tongue protruding from her mouth and her eyes bugging out. She really wasn't supposed to die like this. And she doubted this time that she'd be set ever-so-gently on a couch afterwards. Orin scowls when that second blast does nothing and he tries to get a forcefield up around him with the Trident, but the Kryptonian is too fast. He somehow manages to keep a hold of the weapon even as he gets tackled, the momentum throwing him through at least one building exterior if not a couple of interior walls. That's going to leave a mark. At least they're on an island and once he's able to catch his breath again, he should be able to go back into the water to 'lick his wounds', so to speak. "Damn it! Understood Xavin!" is shouted as Hawkeye hears what her alien ally says over the bluetooth. And yet as another voice chimes in, she starts to smile. Or at least she tries to as she runs. After all, she has maybe a second or two before the kryptonian grabs her... "Understood Spider. Let's do this!" is said as an arrow, a single arrow with a very special gimmick is fired. It's part high yield explosive. Possibly the last one Kate has right now. But in addition it's also like a flash bang. Only more like a flash bang on crack, a ton of coffee, and speed. Because when that arrow goes off it's a huge bright flash, like looking into a sun. There's also an explosion that makes a crack of thunder sound quiet in comparison. And /then/ Kate is grabbed by the hair. She almost drops her bow as she tries to to break free. But considering the brute strength of the kryptonian involved, there's only one way free from that. And that is only if she has a moment to get something from her quiver... Amazing, charging herself up with the Kryptonian's own energy and raising her own blasts' power levels to nearly nuke level and it's just laughed off. That's insane. Carol is stunned for a moment until she's in a choke hold. Her head whips back into the nose of her grappler immediately, and she kicks at the other one moving in on her. "Why don't you guys go somewhere you can -win-?" she asks through gritted teeth before she makes sure she's not close to buildings or other allies. Over her comm she says, "Sorry I didn't check in earlier. A little occupied with hairless alien bitches here..." And then she unleashes every erg of energy she has available to her, in an eruption of disgusting power levels... depleting her to the point where she falls out of the sky and right through the city streets below... but the odds are it should have a dramatic effect on her nearest opponents. Oh, there we go. Kryptonian super powers > Shoes and magic gauntlets. Magic gauntlets? Magic gauntlets! Wonder Girl takes a swing even in her surprise as her foe turns right around and comes at her instead of being thrown back and away by the one-two combination, but her fist goes right over the super-fast woman's head and she gets socked in the stomach instead. Pain flares through body like that one spot is wired to every nerve she has. She doubles over, but is grabbed by the hair and flown around with before she can even attempt to take any other defensive action. The pain in her scalp actually serves to drag her awareness, bit by painful bit, out of the panicked fact that she can't breathe and probably has broken ribs all over, and onto the fact that she is going to be hurting a lot worse soon if she doesn't take action. So even though her opponent seems to be not only stronger than her but getting even stronger by the moment, the psuedo-Olympian starts throwing anything she can to try to break the hold on her blonde hair, including simply kicking the same place over and over and over. Or trying. Being led around by her hair in the sky is not exactly a great position to be counter-attacking from. Pepper's breath catches at the voice that responds to her call, and then she's running full-tilt down the hall of the fifty-first floor to the secure communications center. "JARVIS, do as he said, get people evacuating, underground routes only. Subways, service tunnels, sewers if they have to. But get them OUT." As she stops in front of one of the control consoles, the displays in front of her light up showing various scenes around the city from the vantage of cameras placed on buildings, traffic lights, any and everywhere. What she sees is NOT promising. Costumed people everywhere are being overwhelmed and apprehended by these strange invaders. Oh, this is SO not good... "Tony, where are you?" she whispers to herself before saying in a more normal tone, "JARVIS, is there anything at all we can do?" Clever Girl! Clearly Wildebeest hasn't been learning the lesson that Jurassic Park tried to teach us all... always watch your sides. Instinct kicks in, as he's smashed into the pavement by the new K-Clone. And there's a flurry of punches and kicks, with clawing and biting intermingled. Wilde attempts to throw his attacker off, which only exposes him to more attacks which keep him down. Wilde even tries reverting to his child form, and trying to scramble away from the Kryptonian attackers. Of course, there is a flaw to this plan. As he's also not as strong and durable in this form. And much more easy to catch and carry. The sky has erupted with many bursts of energy this night, and the blast Carol Danvers has sent erupting across it is certainly among the brightest. Yet another blast fills the sky, now, as the two Kryptonian clones strike Doctor Fate down from the sky--clearly, he too should have heeded the velociraptor lesson. Yet, even as Fate plummets from the sky like the falling cinder of an exploded firework, smoldering and smoking, the magics do not vanish. His spell cycles out of control, mystic energies raging across the sky and rending it asunder with an aurora of flame. Any too near to where the circle may well be incinerated--or, worse, cast into the rift that flashes across the sky in that terrible interest. The void is only open for an instant, but in its wake a storm flows from it, filling the sky with arcs of lightning and sending a sudden deluge of torrential rain cascading from above. Chunks of hail--but no, it's not hail. Those are giant salt crystals, slowly melting in the rain. The rain stings like acid, though it does not seem to cause actual harm, and it leaves sulfurous puddles wherever it strikes. Some foulness has been released here, less a storm and more a squall of otherworldly filth spat forth from the fissure. And as these energies rage, Fate himself seems to have vanished, perhaps fizzled after all, as grand and brief as one of the fireworks he so recently resembled in his blazing aerial manifestation of light. More and more of Xavin's distended body coils tightly around the recovering clone as they fall. As much of his expansion is due to the Kryptonian's struggles as any particular strategy on his part, though; every twist, every inhumanly powerful writhing motion stretches him out a little further, forcing him to loop more of himself around the clone. Back home, his instructors taught him to subdue foes with superior strength by cutting off their airways, but heat vision makes that impossible; at this point, the best he can hope for is that when they land, the clone gets the worst of it. Unfortunately, that hope turns out to be seriously misplaced; trapped between hard ground and even harder Kryptonian tissue upon finally crashing into the pavement, he lets out a cry of pain and his worn muscles slacken, allowing the markedly less incinerated clone to free itself with ease. There are yards of him splayed out across the ravaged street in thick ribbons, and just as he's trying to figure out how much longer it'll take him to pull his body back together so that he can defend himself, the singed Kryptonians decide to use him as their crash pad. The Hulk has a bad habit of leaving craters everywhere he goes, and today is no different. He's just rising to his feet with a self-satisfied smirk on his big green mug only to be ambushed from all sides, Kryptonian clone arms locking around him as they all go rocketing into the air. Hulk doesn't like this ride, he wants off, so he starts to- flail around would be the appropriate description, really, arms and legs moving as he tries to throw them all off. His lack of immediate success as they hurtle towards the stratosphere has Hulk roaring in rage, but the air is starting to thin, and it's somewhat less intimidating than normal. "I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it," Ben starts to think in his mind like Homer Simpson when he jumped the Springfield Gorge. Both corners of his mouth are pulled into a smile, "I'm the king of the," and as those last Homer-like thoughts form Ben meets a similar crushing defeat. Homer Simpon fell down the gorge seeing his hope of seeing an impossible jump get dashed away; Ben too sees something impossible get dashed away. Coming around the bend is another kryptonian and Ben's going to fast to stop. When the teen is snagged all of the air leaves his lungs. Honestly it's on par with taking a good hit at a football game, not that Ben would know the comparison being a science nerd and all, but he could register the pain. Cries of pain leave his lips and he barely notices Hawkeye get snagged. Raising his hand to strike at his oppressor Ben prepares for a fall before crying out, "AHHHH!" The Kryptonian squeezes Ben's already sore ribs double the pain. When the alien feels Ben's body submit the grip is loosened. "Call the Avengers Pepper. Call the Intern in. Call anyone you can," he says over the radio to her. Pepper, with the big help from Jarvis, got into the signal long ago but Ben didn't want to talk to her. They have a strange history together. Julian Keller takes pride that his American Flag-bat takes a few clones by suprise. But the tables turn and the surprise is his when he get's swarmed by Kryptonians, hands infinitely stronger than he is grabbing and pulling him every which way. The only saving grace he has is his Telekinetic field. His body field expands, becomes a bubble around him, sheer and smooth with nothing to grip. KRYPTON 56a A LONG TIME AGO "Gentlemen," Jor-El sighs in greeting. He, as well as the other council members sit quietly at a table. Above them the sky is dark. "I do not enjoy bringing you what I have learned." Jor-El grimaces and takes a moment to look around the room. "Many of you have spoke about a conspiracy against the council-an unseen threat. A potential coup. I have called this meeting for you to look at evidence that implicates General Zod as the main conspirator of a plot to overthrow this council." "General Zod?!" asks one Kor-Ze, "General Zod is our greatest warrior." A pained Jor-El nods. "He is. He is-was-also one of my great friends. He confided in me recently regarding his plans, then went into great detail with me. The evidence-" Jor-El slides a data-tablet across the table, "-is right here." ----- METROPOLIS TODAY All around the wind swirls with the mayhem of Fate's storm. After the mystic hero disappears the world seems for a moment as if it will split in two, but eventually it dies down to a whisper. All over, heroes are being beaten and beaten badly. "STOP!" yells Superman, apparently unable to take any more of seeing his home and his friends be beaten beyond belief. Though much of the city lies in ruins, the heroes have been fighting valiantly till the bitter end. The Man of Steel can simply take no more, and knowing that they are outnumbered and outgunned, decides he must do the only rational thing to prevent more bloodshed. "Stand down," the first time he says it, it's low and full of sorrow. The second time around he says it louder, almost with an irritation, "Stand down!" One by one, the Kryptonian Clones begin to disembark from battle and raise their hands, letting their human adversaries know there is a temporary cease-fire. Those that hold Superman seem to get what's about to happen and release him. It appears as if they have some sort of communication link themselves, albeit far different than Pepper's most likely. Those who are apprehended in the air are set upon the nearest rooftop. All except for Hulk. They uh, they don't really know what to do with him. He's dropped unceremoniously into the sea. Then, after one of them with a scarlet armband, holds a finger to his ear and mutters into a mouth piece, there is a nod. Two soldiers come to apprehend Superman, who does not struggle. All three, without fanfare, begin to float upwards and then pick up speed heading back to the massive ship. One by one, all of the rest of the clones fall back as well, creating a wall between the heroes and the prisoner as they too make their way back to the fortress in the sky. You have created job number 28 entitled 'You Will Kneel - Finale'. 'Ask Ted to equip the Star Rod with kryptonite.' Funny how these things breeze through your mind when you're about to die. Hind-sight is 20/20, after all. But mostly her entire young life is flashing before her eyes. She could just see her mother standing over her grave and angrily shaking a finger and telling her that she'd told her so just like when she'd tried playing baseball in the house and broke a window. No, that wasn't quite right, was it? The image shifts to Barbara Whitmore crying as Pat Dugan does his best to console her. Even Mike seemed non-plussed at his sister's death. And all the while Patricia stands at her mother's side, holding her hand and not even understanding what was going on or why Courtney wasn't there. 'Patricia. I really wanted to see what kind of woman you'd become...' But now she never would. Because Courtney Whitmore was just going to die. She might not even get a memorial. Would other heroes even care or remember what she'd tried to do? Her hands twitch and then fall to her sides as her depleted oxygen supply drops so low that her body begins to cease responding to her mental commands. Her arms jerk slightly upwards one, then again as she tries to FORCE them to obey her commands. Her face was now a brilliant shade of violet as oxygen-deficient blood ceased it's proper flowing. ...Probably not. They'd only remember that she was some kid who smiled pretty for the cameras and waved for her fans and obviously should never have put on a costume at all. Except for Cassie. Damn, now they'd... never... get to... Just as her eyes are rolling up into her head and darkness is covering her already-grayed vision, Courtney's throat is released and she's dropped to collapse into a pitiable heap upon a nearby rooftop. Orin manages to get a few punches in after being tackled and even as his attacker starts to step away, he's not going to let him go so easily. The butt-end of the Trident is rammed towards the other's solar plexus -- it might not debilitate him, but he sure hopes to at least knock the wind out of his assailant for having the sheer gall to attack him! Upon hearing Superman's surrender, he then goes to push past the rubble from the destroyed walls so that he can see just where they seem to be taking Superman, not that he can easily follow. As she's let go... No, as the K-clones start to retreat now that what they wanted has surrendered to them... Hawkeye frowns. Yes, she nearly collapses as she is let go, but well, as she watches what happens around her, her jaw drops. "Xavin... Spider, do you think you can follow them, or...?" Yeah, it's a long shot. But still... Oh, crap. The enemies are stopping and trying to leave peacefully(ish) with Superman in tow? Man. Now if only Wonder Girl wasn't stubborn as frick. She takes a moment to get her breath back after being released by her opponent, watching with blue-grey eyes as all of this transpires, and then turns and flies after her opponent, prepared to try to grab her and throw her into some of the other bad guys! No way is she backing down! Heroes don't give up just because the enemy is tough, right? So she actually comes within moments of attempting this attack-from-behind 'strategy', prepared to try to just punch her way through the wall of weird super-people no matter how much stronger than her they are, when something -- though she would never be sure what -- made her look over her shoulder first. She sees Stargirl being dumped on a rooftop, and even with her ribs burning with pain, to say nothing of all the parts of her scalp missing hair, she chokes down her stubborness just this one time... Her anger and desire to exact retribution against those who hurt her best friend... And flies back to help Courtney instead. She lands next to Stargirl, and starts checking her over, shaking her gently, making sure the other blonde is alive still. "Stargirl! Hey, keep your eyes open! Stay with me, you hear!?" Her back to the invaders feels like it's nearly burning with heat vision blasts as the desire to make them pay for what they've done is steadfastly ignored. "Dammit, where's the nearest hospital..." she mutters as she tries to determine if it's safe to move Stargirl. Superman/Emits, Stargirl, Orin, Kate Bishop, Carol, Wonder Girl, Pepper, Wildebeest, Fate, Xavin, Hulk, Ben Reilly, Julian "I'm sorry, Miss Potts. There is nothing to be done." Frowning at the bland British-sounding reply, Pepper starts tapping at whatever controls she can, hoping something will do... something. Ben's voice then catches her attention and puts one hand to her bluetooth to listen as his familiar voice addresses her directly. Parker? How? Where? "What?" Then Superman's shout overrides the other signals and she flinches at it. One of the cameras JARVIS has 'borrowed' swivels to focus on the Man of Steel and follows as he is taken without a struggle. "No, wait. There's got to be another way." Pepper looks around at all of the controls, hoping to find anything that she can do. "JARVIS..." "I'm sorry, Miss Potts, there is nothing to be done." "DAMNIT." Once Superman calls for the end of the fighting, Wilde is let go and takes a moment to catch his breath. He's a bit worse for wear, but there's no life threatening injuries at the moment. Wilde also once more shifts into his 'Heroic Form', returning to 12' tall and just lip curling at his former attackers. But he recognizes now is not the time and place to start another fight, so instead Wilde looks up towards Superman and where he's being escorted. And the K-Clones start to leave as well. And then he's left looking around at his fellows heroes. "We're not just gonna let him go, are we!?" Wilde asks as he pants a bit from the exhaustion of the fight and the multiple shifts in succession. Above, the last of Fate's storm dissipates into a thin wisp of smoke, just at the center of where his circle of power had been conjured. Now, nothing but that wisp remains--and it, too, vanishes swiftly on the breeze, leaving only the scattered salt and pools of sulfurous residue below to indicate that the storm or its caster were ever present at all. Just as the wounded clone's freshly regrown eyes settle on Xavin's twisted, bloodied body and begin to glow, just as his malformed lips twist into a cruel smirk--the order is given to retreat. The battered Skrull watches with a mixture of relief and anger as the three clones disengage to fly back to their ship; he tries to swat at their heels as they fly away, but they're way too fast--and he can barely manage anything more forceful than a vaguely agitated wave, anyway. Some seconds later, aided by a hand and arm that's still entirely too flexible despite his attempts at pulling himself back into shape, he manages to murmur, "We're--going to need to regroup..." into his Young Allies smartphone. SPLASH. Setting Ben down the the kryptonian lets loose a smirk or at least, that's what teen thinks he sees. A mixture of pain, shame and defeat can make anyone see anything. Rising slowly Ben holds his side then says over the Young Allies communication, "Just say the word." What that word is could be follow or pull a kryptonian back for another round. Either is good reason in his case. Superman is captured and Ben doesn't even realize it. He just doesn't want to lose this fight without getting a few more shots in. Switching to a different frequency Ben replies, "The other one, Miss Potts. And I realize what I'm doing having this talk with you. We're beyond that today; this is bigger than me and Pete. He can provide muscle if you can find him. Suit him up with something too, he'll need it. Fantastic Four rep, out." Switching back to the Young Allies feed Ben sighs. He didn't want to oust Peter like that but a lot of heroes are going to be needed for this bad guy. Besides maybe Tony could turn Peter into an Iron Spider now that his secret is out. Julian Keller is suprised as hell when the dozen or more Kryptonians release him, and back away, arms raised in surrender. His brow furrowed, sweat running down his back from maintaining his field VS 12 kryptonians. But as they back off, his gaze falls on Stargirl and Wondergirl on the rooftop adjacent to him. He drifts over just before his field cuts out. Landing heavily after a fall of just a few feet... he approaches Stargirls fallen body. "We need to keep her stiff.. Get her to a hospital. I can help with that at least." ----- The Man of Steel is brought to the main bridge without incident and brought before Zod. The men's eyes lock, and the General steps slowly down from his throne. "Kal-El." Superman looks past Zod's shoulder and sees a half dozen heads on spikes. They are his heads. Gritting his teeth, he looks back to Zod. "You will kneel to me, in time, son of Jor-El. As you have before. And as you will many more times. And after that, I will kill you." He smiles faintly. "Then, I will move on to the next Kal-El.-Guards! Take him to his dungeon and release the red energy. In a handful of hours he will be no more powerful than the humans who should be licking his boots! Away!" "Now. What shall I do with this Earth?" ---- For about 15 minutes all is quiet as those who are injured have some time to sort of look themselves over and assess damage. Abruptly, then, down below, a convoy of military humvees navigate the streets of Metropolis. One stops near the congregation of heroes and the door flies open. Bruce Banner, and others may recognize this as General Ross. "Listen here heroes ," he says as his boots hit the pavement around the heroes who have begun to congregate. "You folks need to lick your wounds and pick yourselves up. This fight aint over. It's just starting. I need you to get in gear and meet me at this address. Now. That big guy in the sky won't have much time for us to play grab ass. Come on." He hands a note with an address upon it to the nearest hero, and hops into the humvee almost as quickly as he jumped out. With that, the humvee tears across the road, the quarter mile between the heroes and the rendezvous point. He also takes time to contact the Avengers, Justice League, and any other team his intelligence officer can think up to meet with. ----- SOMETIME LATER A RENDEZVOUS POINT AT AN ABANDONED WAREHOUSE "Alright, Nancies, let's get this started. The United States government has been in the process of preventing this sort of situation for some time." The man's voice bellows loudly with a bit of a drawl. It echoes throughout the large space. "Late last summer, some ginger broad from Westchester fell out of the sky and so did a whole small meteor's worth of some funny green rock. Don't ask me who it was because that's classified and my superiors said it had to do with some hypertimey shit I don't understand and would prefer not to. Suffice to say we have been able to weaponize it, at least for the short term. Using some good ole fashioned American ingenuity along with help from our favorite Kryptonian, we've been able to create these. . ." He motions to the supply truck, which opens at its side and reveals what looks to be hundreds of over the shoulder canon type, silver firearms that have a green glow at the base of the barrel. "Now these only carry a 2 hour charge. After that the meteor rock is kaput, capiche? So, be quick about it." He sighs, before glaring at Banner for no other reason other than good measure. "I don't know how y'all feel, but I for one know that just because these Alien mooks-no offense to any other aliens here-got Superman, they aint gonna give. They'll be back, and they'll be back for keeps. We could wait for them to attack, or we could take the fight to them and do our best to save that Boy Scout up there." He looks around the room. "Don't know how you feel about that guy, but I for one know he's saved a shit ton of people, and if he has to be saved once or twice, well then sign me up." "I know some of you commies don't like using guns and all, but if you'd make an exception this time around I'm sure I, the President, Big Blue, and Uncle Sam would all be very much obliged." You Will Kneel - Part 2 Category:Log